


For Every Sense, A Sensation

by Zinzanzelf



Series: Shumako Week 2021 [2]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: A space to be oneself, Attics, Beneath the Mask Rain Instrumental, Cafe Leblanc (Persona 5), Enjoying Each Other's Company, F/M, Giant magazine, I want to be with you, JKQN, Physics is tricky, Rain, ShuMako Week 2021, Shumako week, Study Break, Teasing the Student Council President, Weaving in Rank 10 of the Priestess Confidant, twice shy, 一緒にいたい
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29936391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zinzanzelf/pseuds/Zinzanzelf
Summary: Weather: Raining/Torrent/DrizzlingLocation: Leblanc AtticEvent: Study TimeTime: Late afternoonObjective: Complete homework assignments before dinnerHidden Objective: Tease MakotoOther objective: Resist Ren and achieve unbreakable concentrationTrue objective: ???_For Shumako Week 2021: Teasing/Parenthood/Team Mom & Dad
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: Shumako Week 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199978
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27
Collections: ShuMako Week 2021





	For Every Sense, A Sensation

**Author's Note:**

> Did you imagine the above summary in telemetry AKA futuristic digital scrolling noises?  
> You know, like title sequence revealing the name and operation for each episode of Kids Next Door?  
> No? Okay...
> 
> Anyways!
> 
> A year ago, NecroAlx made a [soothing video of Ren and Makoto studying together in the attic hideout](https://youtu.be/QkMiq9s8Sr4%20) set to Beneath the Mask Rain Instrumental. And that got the proverbial creative faucet going...  
> Further details in the End Notes.
> 
> The title was lifted from lyrics of "[The Garden of Everything](https://youtu.be/Ht8M-1m20qA)" sung by Steve Conte and Maaya Sakamoto.

* * *

Ren had redecorated his room again. His work station however, was just as messy and --- Makoto narrowed her eyes at the menagerie of dolls atop his work station. One more had joined the party.

“They’ve multiplied.” she muttered.

“What’s that about my plushies?” he called from behind some cardboard boxes.

“I never would have taken you for someone into possessed teddy bears…” she responded, helping him clear a path for the table.

“I have many tastes.” he replied smartly and she shot back with a wry glance.

He flipped the table up and wiped it down.

“You can always wait in my room, you know.”

“I couldn’t possibly. You’re not there. It wouldn’t be proper.” She folded her hands together. This wasn’t her home and she certainly wasn’t about to sit anywhere she pleased. The polite thing to do as the guest was wait to be offered a seat.

“Then just say,” He rapped a knuckle on the table and spoke in falsetto. “‘ _Pardon the intrusion._ ’. Done.”

“I do not sound like that.” she intoned dryly.

He laughed. “That’s what bothers you?”

She folded her arms. He laughed harder when she narrowed her eyes at him so she dropped her voice to an unnatural baritone and said, “Oh, yeah? Well, ‘ _I’m Ren and I thought Boss’ full name was Boss Sojiro until recently_ ’.”

He folded his arms.

“Real mature.”

“You started it.”

“Didn’t think I’d hear that from the prim and proper honor student.” he scoffed.

“I’d like to think of it as leveling the playing field.” she replied, evenly.

Stern, indignant stares gave way to harmonious laughter. He patted the spot on the couch next to him.

“We’re all set up now. Have a seat.”

Ren flipped his notebooks open and got to work. He glanced at Makoto who was already poring over one of her textbooks.

“Hey, don’t cram yourself into the corner. There’s enough space for the both of us.” he said, patting the table.

“I just want you to have enough room for all your books.” she said, nervously. But she did shift her textbooks closer to the center of the table.

“And you can sit closer. If you want.” he added. 

Ren kept his eyes on the pages of his notebook, letting her bide her time. Makoto allowed herself to scoot one centimeter closer to him. He smiled into his hand.

Makoto finished her work first and pulled out a thick magazine. Ren laughed into his shirt. It was the same magazine she had used when she was investigating him.

“Not holding it upside down today, I see.” he muttered under his breath.

“Did you say something?” she asked, lowering the magazine.

“Nothing. Uh, Physics is tricky. All these different conversions for moles and mass and stuff.”

“Keep trying.” she said, leafing through the pages. “If you get stuck you can ask me.”

“Thanks.”

Something rattled the windows.

“Brr! Do not go out there!” Morgana wriggled through the narrow attic window. “What was that phrase in English we just learned? ‘Raining cats and dogs’? Yeah. That’s it’s. Pardon me while I...”

He arched his back and tail, making all the hair on his body stand on end.

“Wait, wait, wait!!” Ren yelled, throwing down his pencil.

Makoto reacted faster. She snatched a towel and held it over the bedraggled cat. Morgana vigorously shook out the water from his fur, spraying her.

“Cold!” she protested. “Morgana, dry your paws first.”

“Aww, my workout towel...”

“Sorry!” She grimaced, seeing all the cat hair stuck to his towel.

“It’s fine.” He plucked it out of her hands and draped it over a pile of dirty clothes. “One more for the maid service.”

“The what?”

“The laundromat!”

After shutting the window tight and mopping up puddles of water, they read in silence while Morgana snoozed at the foot of Ren’s bed. The tip of his tail twitched. Left, right. Up, down. Rain pattered against the panes, steady as a beating drum. Water gushed down the gutters. Ren’s eyes roved around the room. He tapped his fingers and pencil to the rhythm of the raindrops. He was bored of staring at foreign symbols and numbers and so, began formulating a plan to get Makoto’s attention. It would have to be discreet, clever, and perhaps most importantly, engaging.

He began by stealing glances at her. Makoto was nose deep into her magazine. If she had been looking out of her periphery she would have seen that mischievous, trademark smirk of his. What she caught instead was Ren stretching his neck in an exaggerated fashion. Was he trying to stretch out each and every one of his neck muscles?

He then flicked his hair back and captured her gaze with that infuriating smirk of his.

She had played right into his hands!

Makoto rolled her eyes, shook her head in exasperation, and went back to her reading, acting as if nothing had happened. She hoped in vain her cheeks would stop burning soon.

Ren rested his hand in his chin, extremely pleased with himself. He settled back in his seat and began scheming once more. All he needed to do now was wait for Makoto to lower her guard before making his next move.

After some more time had passed, Makoto saw him inch towards her out of her periphery. She forced herself to ignore him and turned the page. 

“ _What? You want to read with me?_ ” - Is what she could have said to tease him. Act coy, perhaps a tad coquettish - however! That was exactly what he wanted! She kept her eyes on the page and that’s when she felt his lips pressed upon her cheek, light as a feather. She gasped and clapped her hand over her cheek. Fortunately, she had the good sense not to shout. 

“ _Ren!_ You’re supposed to be doing your homework!”

He tilted his head at her innocently. “What? Aren’t I allowed to take a small study break?”

“I-I think you should use that break for something more worthwhile.” She carefully angled the magazine between their faces. He only lowered it and leaned closer till he was inches from her face with one arm curled on the back of the couch behind her. 

“Worthwhile, you say. You mean for us?”

 **_Plop!_ ** Went the magazine.

 **_Thoom!_ ** Went her heart.

“I --- Uh! That’s not what I meant!” 

“Is that a no?” he pouted.

“Because!” She swiveled around. “You’re just teasing me! I don’t understand why.”

He withdrew his arm and pinched his thumbs. “I can’t help it. It just happens when I’m with you.” 

She folded her arms and sighed quietly. 

“...I like you.”

She had never heard Ren sound so shy, so meek, and yet so earnest. Curiosity made her turn back just to see his expression, only to smack straight into his lips. 

He had played her again!

“See...?”

She had quite a number of choice words for him until she saw how red his ears were, how lips quivered and twitched into a small shy smile. A strange rush of excitement washed over her. A feeling she would later describe as “enticement”.

“Bad habit. I know. Sorry.” he grimaced, tugging at his bangs.

Makoto cupped his face and turned him towards her. “But not one we can’t fix...or nurture?”

He twitched. “Eh?”

Her fingers hooked around his frames and lowered them. She peered up at him shyly. 

“Do it properly this time. Slowly.”

He gulped and nodded mutely. She placed his folded glasses on the table.

Ren tilted his head and leaned in. That’s when Morgana let out an obnoxiously loud snore. He could have sworn that was deliberate. They both rolled their eyes. 

“ _Shh,_ ” he mouthed, pressing a finger to her lips and traced it down her chin.

They closed their eyes and began slowly, letting their other senses take over. The lips, dry yet smooth and very pliable. Their breaths, hushed, dry and warm, and slightly ticklish against the nose. Skin, flushed and very soft, especially the cheeks and nose. His hands came up and he cradled her face tenderly. Her hands found their place on his shoulders. Her thumbs brushed his neck and collarbones. They pulled away when they heard Morgana turn over then closed in when it was quiet again. For a few blissful moments, there was nothing but the sound of raindrops and the gentle creak of wooden floorboards.

His eyelashes grazed her skin. Her nose bumped his. Morgana snooze-mumbled something like Sea Bream. Or Yellowtail. Or Albacore.

“ _This is more difficult than I thought._ ” he mouthed.

“ _I thought you liked a challenge._ ” she mouthed back.

They fought back the urge to laugh. This wasn’t working.

Makoto sat down again and sidled right next to him, as close as she dared. He crossed his legs and leaned back. She picked up her book and promptly set it down. Reading wasn’t the thing to do right now. She glanced once, then twice at him. Ren remained as he was, his head cocked to one side, content to listen to the rain.

Ah, he was waiting for her.

_I did say as the older one I should take the lead…_

After smoothing her skirt she summoned her courage to initiate the conversation.

“Um, thanks for inviting me to, um...”

“Hang out?”

It was a casual phrase, known and used by millions of socially adept teenagers. But the concept was something unusual and unexpected for her. The way she related to people, prior to joining the Thieves could be summed up as hierarchical or strictly business. And in the rare instance, sisterly. But even those moments seemed to be confined to the dinner table, with an invisible glass wall between them.

She nodded meekly. “I-I was thinking ‘study’ but yes. That. Hanging out. In your room. J-just the two of us.”

He tapped his chin. “I’m pretty sure we’ve done this before. You know, after group meetings and stuff? You always stuck around to help clean up. We hung out then, right?”

She bundled the ends of her skirt. “I mean like this. Because now we’re... W-was I doing it right? I wasn’t sure what the proper protocol was, so that’s why...”

He choked down a blush and a laugh. She always fell back to formal speech whenever she wanted to mask her nervousness.

“It’s whatever you’d like it to be.”

Makoto brushed a lock of hair back and folded her hands. “Oh, that’s very considerate of you. That is to say, now that our relationship has changed, I want us to move forward in the right direction. And this is the first time we’ve been alone together like this. Well, aside from…” 

They both smirked at the snoozing furball.

“I don’t want to mess it up.” she whispered, pressing her hands together.

“There’s no way you can.” he said, shaking his head gently. 

She pressed her lips together, forming a nervous smile. He tilted his head to meet her eyes.

“Makoto, right now, being with you is all I could ask for. I know you took some time out of your busy schedule for me. That made me really happy. So, I just want you to be able to relax and be yourself. Okay?”

She tilted her head. “Be myself?”

“Yeah.” He leaned back as if showing her the way to relax. “There’s no agenda, no expectations, no nothing.”

“T-thank you.” She too settled back.

It was pouring now. The clouds seemed to coalesce into one thick, grey mass, dimming the room. Morgana snored lightly. Every so often, the white tip of his tail would flick up and his paws kneaded the bed like he was chasing something.

Makoto coughed surreptitiously. “I guess we should keep quiet since Morgana’s sleeping.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t be nice to disturb him.” Ren murmured, eyeing the black lump of fur closely.

“W-what should we do while we wait for him to wake up?”

“What do you want to do?” he asked gently.

“I just…”

She blushed and looked down. He smiled and waited.

“...want you to be happy when we’re together.”

It was the tiniest of whispers but he heard it.

She smoothed the pleats in her skirt before meeting his eyes.

“I want to be with you.”

The warmth in her voice made his heart swell and reverberate with joy. He nodded and patted his shoulder. She nestled her head on his shoulder and he laid his hand over hers.

Makoto knew then she had found someone she could be comfortable around. Someone outside of her family who was becoming very dear to her. She wouldn’t have minded if time stopped then, if the rain continued to pour, lulling her to sleep.

But what about Ren?

“Are you bored?” she murmured.

“Are you?” he murmured back.

“Of course not!” she exclaimed softly, raising her head. “Because I’m...with...you...”

He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, so...don’t you think it’s the same for me?”

“But don’t c-couples normally get bored unless they’re talking about something or doing something?”

“But we’re not those couples, are we?” he said, intertwining their fingers.

“But that’s because I’m weird like that.” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Then we can be weird together.”

She giggled quietly. “I like the sound of that idea.”

Makoto settled back down on his shoulder. Ren rested his head on hers. His dark curls entwined with her short, straight locks. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close. They sighed contentedly.

That rainy afternoon in the quiet attic of Leblanc, two individuals found peace and rejuvenation in each other, and they knew they could find it again should the world leave them weary and wanting.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes/Ramblings:
> 
> \- “Teasing” got accept as a prompt! It’s clear in the game he has a penchant for teasing her. I’m pretty sure he gets a kick out of her reactions. Probably becomes some sort of game of “How can I make Makoto blush today? And to what degree?”
> 
> -NecroAlx made a soothing video of Ren and Makoto studying together in Leblanc’s Attic on a rainy afternoon set to Beneath the Mask Rain Instrumental, and that got the proverbial creative faucet going.  
> -What was Ren studying? Is Makoto taking a break reading her gigantic magazine? How long have they been like this? Is this after school? On the weekend? Then there’s Morgana snoozing peacefully in the corner of the bed.  
> -My favorite bit is the way he gets her attention by stretching exaggeratedly, making her look up from her reading. Gotcha!
> 
> -NecroAlx if you’re reading this, please make more (at your leisure of course)! The world needs more Shumako content! :D
> 
> -The “possessed teddy bear” is the Protective Lexy Doll (available after 11/3 or a day after obtaining the Wanawana Doll). I mean, just look at it!
> 
> -In the game and anime (ep. 15), Ren really does forget Sojiro’s last name. To be fair he only introduces himself at the beginning of the game and thereafter asks everyone to call him “Boss”. The anime gives us this small, comedic moment between Ren and Makoto when she asks him what Sojiro’s last name. Thieves are on the cusp of solving Futaba Sakura's identity and possible connection to Sojiro since they have the same surname. Makoto, Yusuke, and Morgana connect the dots the fastest.  
> I like how we get this closeup shot of Makoto turning to Ren to confirm their theory as the one who ought to know.  
> Ren's response? The most zoned out "Hmm?" we hear in the entire anime. And then the look of utter disappointment on her face. XD  
> And everyone's all, "C'mon man, you're usually the most observant out of all of us. What happened?"
> 
> \- “I want to be with you”, “一緒にいたい”  
> -You probably noticed I integrated Rank 10 into the story. It’s one of my favorite moments between them. There is warmth and respect in this quiet, mature romance.  
> I made a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/shumako/comments/k35kc3/i_want_to_be_with_you) in the Shumako subreddit appreciating the moment: "This is one of the few times the protagonist will take the initiative. You might have noticed, most of the time he's on the receiving end of the girl’s affection.  
> But for Makoto, after she warmly tells him "I want to be with you", he responds by having her rest against him and they stay in that warm embrace till she has to leave.  
> I like how patient he is with Makoto, how he gives her that space to sort out her feelings, given her insecurities about her self-worth and romance."
> 
> -I could technically claim my story for “Arguments and Making Up” as [Chapter 2 of We Got Careless](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27291871/chapters/67848812#workskin). But I am glad I didn’t wait to post it till now. It would’ve sat there with me hunched over, trying to figure out a way to thread the whole thing together.  
> Free Day will be skipped over this year, bringing this year’s Shumako Week 2021 to be a collection of 5 stories.  
> -Please look forward to my story for Wounds & Trauma/Matching, this Friday.
> 
> Thank you all for reading and to those who took the time to leave a comment!


End file.
